Help with removing racoons from our soffits

10 years ago

These raccoons have pulled part of the vinyl soffit away and have gained access to the soffit. I hear them running back and forth before dusk. I would imagine that it is the mother and babies. She might be taking them out at night, and them bringing them back there to sleep during the day. I don't want to hurt them in any way, and cannot afford to hire a professional. We need to determine if they are there during the daytime, and find a way to remove them and permanently close off the space where they have torn the vinyl away. I would imagine that we have to put something behind the vinyl which will keep them out. Squirrels have been in there before, too, so this has been an ongoing problem. This area is at the second story of our house, and it is pretty high, so we are going to have to be careful how we do this. Any help would be appreciated.

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Comments (9)

randy427
10 years ago
An old sock containing several mothballs wlii drive them away.
Fori
10 years ago
Someone reported an interesting method here recently, link attached. It's certainly worth trying mothballs. Nobody likes 'em!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/repair/msg040006375243.html
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ionized_gw
10 years ago
How about a live trap? I was after feral cats and got 5 small raccoons instead. Cheap kitty kibble doped with cheap fish sauce was a VERY effective bait.

I understand that a female and pups have more than one den so they can be in there one night and maybe not the next.
GreenDesigns
10 years ago
Unless you are a professional wildlife wrangler with a rabies shot, leave the raccoon interaction to someone who does have the equipment and skills. And the shot. Raccoons can be aggressive. Raccoons with young, especially so. And they can carry rabies.

The mothball bit is a wives tale. The only thing that works is professional trapping and relocation. Or shooting them. Then repair of the structure against intrusion and don't leave pet food outside. It attracts them.
ionized_gw
10 years ago
Those are good points, especially if you live in a rabies endemic area. We don't have rabies where I live, but they can probably transmit other diseases as well. (Use zoonotic, or zoonoses in your search.)

I do believe, that if an intelligent, thoughtful homeowner does some background study, and has the right equipment, Raccoons can be trapped and handled safely. You might also check with state wildlife officials. There may be regulations about relocating wild animals.

I think that if you can repeatedly impair their ability to enter, with difficult to remove hardware cloth or something like that, they will eventually tire of that game and "decide" that their other dens are better than yours.
southerncanuck
10 years ago
Putting a strobe light in the dark attic and turning it on during the day might also be an old wives tale but it works.

Radio Shack or whatever they call it now has them and not all that expensive.
geoffrey_b
10 years ago
If you don't have any pets outside - you could put out a pie plate of anti-freeze - they like the sweetness. Worked for me - never saw the critter again.
southerncanuck
10 years ago
Oh no Geoff, here comes PITA! The only problem with that, and it works to be sure, is if they crawl away somewhere and start to decay we need to find the carcass and get it out.
geoffrey_b
10 years ago
@SouthernCanuck: You can sell the carcass to Popeye's Fried Chicken :)